A pale celadon jade carving of a hound, Qing dynasty, 17th / 18th century

English Private Collection.

Sotheby's London, 13th May 2015, lot 130.

Jade carvings of crouching hound-like dogs with forelegs outstretched can be traced back to the Tang dynasty, such as the carved figure included in the exhibition Chinese Jade Animals, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1996, cat. no. 68.

Compare a closely related white jade figure of a recumbent hound attributed to the 17th century or earlier, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27th April 1997, lot 594. Also see a related yellow jade hound dated to the Yuan/Ming dynasty, with similar posture and details including the articulated spine and the muscular tension beneath the skin, from the collections of Lord Cunliffe, Mary and George Bloch and Dr. Isaac Newton, exhibited in Dr. Newton's Zoo, Bluett & Sons, Ltd., London, 1981, cat. no. 22, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 23rd October 2005, lot 20.